Of Corsets and Things Meant for Her Majesty And Ladies of Her Ilk

JUNE S. KENTON, corsetiere to Queen Elizabeth II, has arrived from London for a fortnight of fittings in New York, a metropolis teeming with women wearing the wrong brassieres. They should not be faulted, however, as roughly 75 percent of the world's bras do not really fit their wearers. This is an industry estimate that Mrs. Kenton has vowed to change.

Accordingly, the 50-year-old corsetiere was in Henri Bendel's lingerie department last week, taking tea with customers and presiding over the fitting rooms. ''Treat yourself to a proper bra,'' her voice floated down the aisle. ''Do treat yourself.''

Today the scene shifts to Bloomingdale's, where she will conduct fittings through Friday. Both stores are introducing ready-made undergarments from Rigby & Peller in London, where Mrs. Kenton and her husband, Harold, are co-directors. The labels on their garments bear the royal insignia and the inscription, ''By appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.''

''We're the only one with the royal warrant in the bra,'' Mrs. Kenton said at Bendel's this past Friday. ''Quite honestly, it is a great honor because mine is as personal a royal appointment as one can get.''

Her remarks were addressed to a woman being hooked into a waist cincher and matching bra. Staring into a mirror, the woman wondered aloud whether undergarments like those she was being fitted for could be found in a lingerie collection at, say, Buckingham Palace.

''I never discuss what the Queen wears,'' the corsetiere replied. She was no less circumspect about the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and other royalty who fancy her made-to-measure undergarments.

''Princess Di?'' the woman in the waist cincher persisted. But the royal corsetiere seemed not to have heard.

As for the waist cincher and bra, done in a white cotton with a country print and trimmed in ribbons, they cost $720 and $570 respectively. The price was dear, it was acknowledged, but here was underwear that could double as outerwear when worn with a long skirt or dinner suit. Moreover, the royal warrant guaranteed the garments' worth as ''valuable antiques.'' The woman thought not. Later, when the fitting rooms were quiet, Mrs. Kenton wandered out front where her line of dainty bras and briefs sat plumped up in baskets, amid flowers and bowls of potpourri. She took a seat beside the tea cart. A maid in a fussy uniform proffered her a cup of Earl Grey. She smiled and said it was almost like being home at Rigby & Peller. Hers is the last made-to-measure corsetry left in Great Britain, she said. She still keeps on file the patterns of hundreds of customers. Yet much has changed. About 30 years ago, when Mrs. Kenton began working at her father's shop in London, the average bra size was 34B. Then came the birth control pill, healthier eating patterns and the exercise boom. As a result, the average size has advanced to 36B, she said, adding that the correct size is probably 34C or D. ''The bra doesn't fit, so they buy the next size,'' she said, shaking her head.

''But they haven't gotten bigger around the back, they've gotten fuller in the cup. In actual fact, they should go down a size and up a cup.''

But who will counsel them? In her country, as here, major department stores once employed trained fitters.

The fitters threw in their tape measures in the late 1960's, however, as pantyhose and the natural look with soft bras or no bras prevailed. Then support bras came back and now, at the bra counters, confusion abounds. ''All these acres of bras in stores in America,'' the corsetiere marveled.

''I've never seen so many bras and so many salesgirls who were in lampshades the day before. The salesgirls say: 'If it's not hanging up, we haven't got it. If it doesn't fit try something else.' But what to try? Really and truly this is a tremendous problem.''

Mrs. Kenton is doing her bit by giving training seminars for the sales staff at the two stores that carry her goods. In just two days at Bendel's, she said, ''so many women have come to me and said: 'I have a drawer full of bras I can't wear. I can't find a bra to fit me.'''

Bras with the royal warrant are available at Bendel's in sizes 32A to 36D from $55 to $75. At Bloomingdale's, the ranges are is 32A to 40D and $25 to $110. The place to find Mrs. Kenton this week is in Bloomingdale's fourth floor Intimacies Department.

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A version of this article appears in print on April 27, 1988, on Page C00001 of the National edition with the headline: Of Corsets and Things Meant for Her Majesty And Ladies of Her Ilk. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe